An Uncensored View of Finance, the Economy,
the Incompetence of Bureaucrats,
and the Stupidity of Politicians.

June 06, 2009

The idiocy of government sponsored energy savings

I’m visiting my parents’ place in Melbourne and was hit by the garish colour of fluorescent bulbs everywhere. What the hell happened?

It seems that the Australian government, in its enduring wisdom, is offering a cash rebate if you swap your old power hungry incandescent light bulbs with hideous power efficient ones.

As with every bold government initiative, this one has created new employment digging holes and filling them in.

My parents were visited by a pair of Indians from one of the new companies that swap out your incandescent bulbs for fluoro spirals, take your old light bulbs, and claim the cash from the government. My parents lost all their friendly 2,300K lighting and are now subject to 6,500K lighting, which is so bad that it makes normal fluorescent strip lighting seem super friendly.

The company cleverly visited during the brightest daylight hours, so when my parents checked the lighting it seemed fine.

Evening came as a total shock.

They now have to try to buy a bunch of new incandescent bulbs to replace the repulsive fluorescent spirals. Better be quick too... they are flying off the shelves and not being replaced because they are soon to be outlawed.

Imagine that? A black market for lightbulbs!

The net result of the government action is that a Chinese company has sold a bunch of cheap light bulbs to Australia, unemployed underpaid Indian electricians got a few hours of pointless work (yes, you got that right: ONLY certified electricians are allowed to be involved in the difficult and dangerous employment of light bulb changing), and new demand has been created for incandescent bulbs.

What scares me here is that this is probably one of the best and most successful programs the government has ever wasted tax payer money on.

In the US, where there seems to be even more stupidity and less oversight it must be going out of control.

I used to look down on people who tried to avoid their civic duty of paying tax to fund worthwhile government programs (not that I have ever paid tax), but over the years they have gained my full respect.

To change the subject completely, does anyone want some 14 watt 6,500K spirals? I’ll be heading back to Bangkok with a bag full.

Comments

I’m visiting my parents’ place in Melbourne and was hit by the garish colour of fluorescent bulbs everywhere. What the hell happened?

It seems that the Australian government, in its enduring wisdom, is offering a cash rebate if you swap your old power hungry incandescent light bulbs with hideous power efficient ones.

As with every bold government initiative, this one has created new employment digging holes and filling them in.

My parents were visited by a pair of Indians from one of the new companies that swap out your incandescent bulbs for fluoro spirals, take your old light bulbs, and claim the cash from the government. My parents lost all their friendly 2,300K lighting and are now subject to 6,500K lighting, which is so bad that it makes normal fluorescent strip lighting seem super friendly.

The company cleverly visited during the brightest daylight hours, so when my parents checked the lighting it seemed fine.

Evening came as a total shock.

They now have to try to buy a bunch of new incandescent bulbs to replace the repulsive fluorescent spirals. Better be quick too... they are flying off the shelves and not being replaced because they are soon to be outlawed.

Imagine that? A black market for lightbulbs!

The net result of the government action is that a Chinese company has sold a bunch of cheap light bulbs to Australia, unemployed underpaid Indian electricians got a few hours of pointless work (yes, you got that right: ONLY certified electricians are allowed to be involved in the difficult and dangerous employment of light bulb changing), and new demand has been created for incandescent bulbs.

What scares me here is that this is probably one of the best and most successful programs the government has ever wasted tax payer money on.

In the US, where there seems to be even more stupidity and less oversight it must be going out of control.

I used to look down on people who tried to avoid their civic duty of paying tax to fund worthwhile government programs (not that I have ever paid tax), but over the years they have gained my full respect.

To change the subject completely, does anyone want some 14 watt 6,500K spirals? I’ll be heading back to Bangkok with a bag full.